Go the Distance
by Palmtop Taiga
Summary: Zuko no longer has anything to live for.  He simply lays on the forest floors, waiting for death to take him.  However, when a thought suddenly enters his mind, he finds a drive and reason to live.
1. Drive

Zuko stood in front of the mirror, his pale, slender fingertips toching the horrid, wrinkled burn scar on the left half of hif face. The scar deeply contrasted against his porcelain skin. Like a dried puddle of blood on snow. He hated the mark. The sign of his unworthiness. He hated the angry, raised mark. Yet in the back of his mind he could hear a voice whispering that he had deserved it. He hated it. He hated it all. He was banished from the closest thing to a home he had ever had. Now he had nothing. No place to go, no one who cared, nothing.

His purpose for living was gone. The Avatar had been killed a year ago. Ozai murdered him, shooting him with lightning, directly through the young air bender's head, before he himself died. Azula had been crowned Fire Lord. The fire nation had little strength left, but it was enough. She banished him, and had Iroh executed. He was no longer welcome in the Fire Nation, nor was he welcome in any other nations because he was a fire bender.

He had no where left. He had finally gotten over his honor, realizing he no longer had a reason to live. He laid on the cold hard ground of the forest and simply waited for death to take him. It kept eluding the prince however. He wanted to die. At least death offered him solace. He could see his mother again. Death was the only thing that welcomed him. When he lie there waiting for endless sleep, he would think. He thought about all the things in his life he wished he could have changed. Telling his mom not to leave when she told him goodbye, joining the Avatar instead of his sister back in Ba Sing Sae, chasing the Avatar for all those years. Betraying the young healer…

That was one of his biggest regrets. The girl. She had slowly opened up to him, an enemy, and had begun to trust him, even offered to 'heal' him, and he had still betrayed her. He could remember her eyes most of all, The open earnesty she showed him when she had offered to heal him, the watery sheen of tears that covered them when she realized he had joined with Azula, and the glare of pure malevolence when she realized her stupidity in trusting him, her enemy. The beautiful blue eyes. The beautiful healer. Her aqua blue eyes and tan skin. He would never forget the beautiful young woman. He couldn't. She had been the first to show him any compassion since his mother had left. He laid there, thinking of her, and waiting for death.

This night as he laid there on the cold forest floor, a thought, unbiddened, came to his mind, 'I want to see her again'

And suddenly, he had a reason to live. He had a drive. He had to find her.


	2. Surprise

**Sorry there was no A.N. last time! I was tired and just wrote that first chapter and forgot to type up any info for you! So I apoligize for the kind of confusing AU. I'm going to clear some things up that will make it easier to understand the story:**

**So what happened was Zuko had sided with Azula back in Ba Sing Sae, gaining Ozai's 'acceptance' so when the comet came through Aang and Ozai fought, Zuko and Azula were being guarded in a bunker underground, and then when Aang tried to take Ozai's bending away Ozai used the last of his power to strengthen his will, and strengthened it enough that it corrupted Aang, which messed up the energy transfer and resulted in both of their deaths. Since Ozai was now dead, and all of the Fire Nation's, nobles, citizens, government officials, and, well, basically everyone, were terrified of Azula, so when she said she was to be crowned Firelord, be damned if she wasn't. So she was crowned Firelord and then became paranoid. She sent Mai and Ty Lee to prison, because they knew everything she had done, and the Kyoshi warriors had been there for a while already (Suki was at Boiling Rock since Zuko wasn't sided with the GAang and Sokka had no idea where she was) and the others were in the same prison Ty Lee and Mai were sent to. They got close and formed and escape plan and seperated so it would be harder to find them. Azula banished Zuko, and executed Iroh, so Zuko had nothing and now we have where my story comes from :) Thanks to all of you that Subscribed, favorited, and reviewed! The more reviews, the faster the uploads!**

'I want to see her again' Zuko shot up when the thought entered his mind. He suddenly felt a pull inside of him, a tug. He stood and looked into the mirror again. It wasn't a mirror, it was a pond, but, it worked as one. He had been here so long that he had started referring to it as a mirror. She confused him. She had the will of a warrior, but an overall motherly personality. Her hair was wavy, and, in a way, alluring. Back in the cave he had wanted to touch it, run his fingers through it, feel the strands against his fingers. He found her tempting, in many ways. She tempted him to trust again, to heal, to open his heart, to accept help. But he had still betrayed her because of his god forsaken honor. He had inevitably run into her many times. He simply wanted to see her. It was more a whim, a fleeting desire. It was still strong enough to make him stand, and walk. He walked through the woods, he just kept walking. He remembered when Uncle had been teaching him about the different nations. He most vividly remembered Uncle telling him about the waterbenders. How they were full of love, and a sense of community and family. That night when he was screaming at the Gods, begging them to shoot him down with lightning, not understanding why they were holding back. They had never held back with tormenting him before, why now? He remembered crying, finally giving up on the Gods. He had screamed as the tears had escaped him. His feet continued moving, almost of their own volition. He wasn't paying attention to where they were taking him. He just needed to find people, even just one person, to get a lead on where to find the feisty young bender. Although she wouldn't be young now. Younger than him of course, but no longer the adolescent she was. She would now be around fifteen or sixteen years old. She was an adult. At least, she was of marrying age. He shook his head. That wasn't relevant. What was relevant now was the person he spotted in the distance. He watched them draw a fan, and begin to do what looked almost like a dance with it. They were standing in a snow-covered clearing, wearing green clothing slash armor. He continued his approach of the figure and was able to recognize the white and red face paint. A Kyoshi Warrior. _So, _he thought, _I have been on Kyoshi. _The girl's hair was worn in a long braid though. Her movements were fluid, she appeared to be quite limber. It caused a thought to tickle the back of his mind, but he shoved it off. He was merely twenty paces from her. As he got within distance, he reached out to tap her shoulder, and he felt a whoosh of air and the a jab with the fan. Suddenly his arm went limp. In the next instant he felt something sharp against his throat. He was able to make out the edge of a fan against his neck, the sharp edge cutting into his skin slightly, drawing blood. He saw the warrior's face go slack with shock

"Zuko!" the girl gasped, recognizing him. He figured she remembered him from when he had attacked the village. His body was stiff, the fan still pressing against his throat had relaxed, but blood was still dripping down his neck and seeping into his already dirtied shirt. The girl was still staring at him with a shell shocked look. He took advantage of her distraction, swinging his leg out and kicking the backs of her knees, causing her to fall. As she fell though the fan slid against his neck, lengthening the cut and spattering blood in the snow. He grunted in pain, and pushed back his bloodied hair and held his neck. The warrior swung her head around and looked at him. "Oh I'm sorry !" she said, "I didn't mean to do that, are you okay?" She had a high pitched voice, and it was so familiar to him, but he couldn't place it. He opened his mouth to answer her question, but at first, he wasn't able to. He had not spoken in well over eight months, and it took him a moment to remember _how_ to speak.

"I'm…fine…," His voice had always had a raspy quality to it, and the long term disuse of it made his speech almost inaudible, and it hurt his throat. Since it was only them in the clearing though, the small girl heard him. She smiled hugely at him.

"Zuko where were you hiding? After Azula had Mai and me thrown in jail we managed to escape, but we had to split up to be less findable so I went with the Kyoshi warriors, since we got to know each other in prison and the let me join them and they helped us escape, of course they freed themselves to, but anyways," she rambled, "I don't know where Mai went, I haven't seen her in over a year. I heard you were banished after Azula was crowned, and no one knew where you were and no one could find you, so they assumed you were dead, but then Azula got paranoid I guess and had troops searching for you, but they couldn't find you either, so that made people decide you were dead for sure!" she finished, her eyes probing, wanting some kind of information.

"…Wandering…ended up here," he answered her. His throat still hurt when he tried to talk so he could only get a few words out at a time. _Wait _he thought _Azula, Mai, in jail, flexible, the paralyzing jabs, the huge grin, the __**braid**_. "Ty…Lee..? Why? Need to know where," Dammit it hurt to talk! He braced himself, "Do you know…where the water tribe…girl went?" He forced the question out of his burning throat.

"Oh her?" she said, "Yeah everyone knows what happened to her, the poor girl," she said sadly.

"Zuko's gut dropped, "What…do you mean..?"

**To Mayaari: Don't worry this isn't going to be easy on him at all. I'm going to feel kind of bad about the crap I have planned on putting little Zuzu through. I will check out your forum too**

**Now, what happened to the little waterbender? If you all review, you'll find out faster! **


	3. Extinguish

**This chapter was supposed to go up after I got a total of eight reviews, but before I had time to start writing it, I was already up to ten reviews, so I will try to think of a system, for uploads with this story. I know a lot of you were anxious for this chapter, with my angsty ending of the last one, haha. I know I should be writing the next chapter of Kari98 and mine's Kingdom Hearts story Lost in the Past, but I'm having some writer's block on that one, so I'll deal with her raging on Wednesday XD**

**I'm really glad this story is liked so far, I wasn't sure about this story at first, but I'm liking it to :)**

**So I'll stop talking and you can read what you came here to read XD**

"What…happened to her?" Zuko had to struggle to get the words out. On top of his aching throat came a sharp pain he couldn't identify. It felt almost the same as when he was thirteen and discovered his father as his Agni Kai opponent.

"That poor girl!" Ty Lee said her face taking a sad look, "I thought you knew what happened to the girl," she said, a slightly confused tone entering her voice.

"What. Happened" Zuko said again, forcing it through teeth that were clenched in pain. He couldn't believe this. His first spark of hope was about to be extinguished.

"Well when the Avatar was traveling, he stopped at the Northern Water Tribe," she said, looking slightly pained, "Well she died," Ty Lee said, shrugging.

Zuko's breath hitched in his throat, He felt as though he was falling. Ty Lee's words kept repeating through his head; _She died, She died, Died, SHE'S DEAD_ he felt like screaming, but he couldn't move a muscle. He couldn't even hear anything now except his own thoughts. He was still looking at Ty Lee. It took his eyes a moment to focus in on her. He saw her mouth still moving, but he couldn't make out what was being said. He fought through his devastated haze and tried to hear the girl.

"…she was really pretty, with her white hair and all. She really did look like the moon translated into a person, she looked like a goddess,"

He didn't want to hear it. He knew she was beautiful, and goddess like already, with her beautiful brown ha-

"White?" he asked Ty Lee. He felt dazed. He felt hope flickering back to life again inside him. His little healer had brown hair. Not white. Was his mind just playing tricks on him? Or was there still a chance?

"Yeah, the princess of the Northern Water Tribe, um, Yue! Yeah that's her name, remember? You were there when she became the moon," Ty Lee nodded he head. Looking at him strangely, like it was the most obvious of knowledge she was bestowing him with.

Zuko was staring at her. Yue. She thought he had meant Yue. Relief crashed over him, sending him to his knees. He collapsed into the snow, gulping in air he hadn't realized he needed. Ty Lee squealed and dropped down on her own knees to help him.

"Zuko! Are you okay! What's wrong? Is it where my fan cut you?" She asked, worriedly. Zuko shook his head. His neck had stopped bleeding a few minutes ago.

"Not…her," he said, still breathing a bit heavily, "The…healer…Kat…ara,"

"Oh!" Ty Lee said, nodding as if to re orient her self, "I'm not sure,"

Zuko's head fell again in defeat, but Ty Lee was still talking.

"Suki is still at the Boiling Rock as far as I have heard," She said, frowning and sticking one finger in the air, "Sokka and Toph are here on the island," she put another two fingers in the air, "and Aang died," she finished looking down sadly and putting up a fourth finger. Her thumb was still down. "I'm not sure what happened to the water bender girl, I asked Sokka when he showed up on the island with Toph, and no one else, but he ignored me, so I never thought to ask again," she looked at Zuko, "I think he knows though, so you might want to talk to him." She pointed in what Zuko assumed to be the direction of the village. "He and Toph live down that way, you can follow me and I'll take you there, It's on my way to the training hall,"

Zuko hesitated. He knew they all hated him. If he showed up all of a sudden, Sokka would undoubtedly attack him. He didn't think the water tribe boy would take to easily to the idea of the fire bender looking for his little sister. He didn't know much about the little earth bender, except that she could metal bend. That didn't warm him up to the idea of talking to them much.

_Maybe you could be free of it _He remembered her words from back in the cave. _This is water from the spirit oasis at the North Pole, it has special properties so I've been saving it for something important, I don't know if it would work, but _He closed his eyes as he did back then, and he could almost feel her again, tenderly putting her fingers to his scarred face, before Aang had come crashing through the crystal, destroying his brief idea of being important to her. He still could hear those words as clearly as if she was right beside him again. He reopened his eyes, and looked at Ty Lee. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it and nodded. She smiled her huge, toothy grin and then stood and walked off toward the village, as he also rose, and followed after her.

**Haha! I love twists and suspense XD I got so much enjoyment out of all the 'What happened?' 'You're killing me' and what not that I was getting at the end of the last chapter, but don't worry, sweethearts she didn't die...at least as far as Ty Lee knows . oh how I love toying with things haha! Well the net chapter of this goes up after a total of fifteen reviews, so review, and reccomenc this story to some friends! The faster the reviews, the faster the uploads!**


	4. Reunion

**Hey everybody, it's Taiga! I had to take some time off from writing this chapter. I had horrible writer's block on how to go about it. I think I got it figured out though so I hope you all enjoy it! Keep in mind that because he didn't join the gang at the air temple, he and Toph don't know each other. I'll be here again in the end.**

_'...two-hundred, two-hundred one, two-hundred two, two-hundred three' _Zuko mentally counted his steps as he followed Ty Lee toward the village. They were coming upon it, and the closer they approached, the tighter his stomach knotted. He was unsure how they would react to seeing him in their home, but he suspected it wouldn't be positive.

"...uko. Zuko!" Ty Lee said waving a hand in front of his face. He jerked himself from his thoughts of possible outcomes of this meeting and focused on the girl.

"What," he said, voice flat. It still hurt a bit to talk, but his voice was getting stronger.

"We're here," she said in her normal, cheerful way. She gestured toward a small house, situated by a rocky hill. It looked inviting, but he still felt quite uneasy. Ty Lee took his arm and lead him the rest of the way toward the house. His stomach was beginning to feel like lead as she pulled him along. It seemed to soon that they approached the door. Before Ty Lee could knock though, it swung open. Behind it was a petite girl with black hair that obscured her eyes. She was dressed in brown breeches and a pale green tunic. The tunic was sleveless, and it revealed a puckered lattice work of burns that contrasted her otherwise milky white skin.

"What do you want Sideshow?" The girl said irritably. She spit and the shot landed directly in a dish that was out in front of the house. Ty Lee simply smiled at her before answering.

"I'm sorry for waking you up Toph, but I ran into a friend of mine who wanted to talk to you!" The girl, Toph, grunted and moved aside to allow them into the house. She pointed to a table in the room signalling them to sit. As Zuko and Ty Lee went about this, Toph pulled her hair back into a ponytail, tying it with a piece if twine. Zuko noticed the milky pale green of her eyes and blanched. She was blind, but how was that possible. She moved from one place to another quite easily, which didn't seem par for the course of the blind.

She paused a moment. "How do you run into someone on an island" she asked confused. She muttered a never mind before she could be given an explaination. She slumped into a chair straddling it backwards and resting her arms and head on the back. She blew hair out of her face before narrowing her eyes at Ty Lee, "You better have a good reason for waking me up this early,"

Ty Lee smiled nervously, "Well, we needed to talk to Sokka, is he-" before Ty Lee could finish, Toph stomped and there was a crash and a yell from the other room.

"Oww!" yelled a male voice, "You're supposed to be more affectionate to your husband, woman!" the voice called. Footsteps could be heard rounding the corner as a man who Zuko assumed to be Sokka appeared, looking pained.

"Oh get over yourself Snoozles," Toph retorted, "Greet Sideshow and whoever the hell she brought with her,"

As Sokka turned, Zuko tensed readying himself to defend against an attack. However Sokka, surprisingly, did not attack when he recognized Zuko. His eyes narrowed and darkened. He yanked Toph behind him, all the while glaring steely-eyed at Zuko.

"What," he said, his voice flat, "could you possibly want now." He held Toph protectively behind his back still, despite her protests. "I won't let you take anyone else." he said with deadly calm.

Zuko looked at him confused. Take anybody? Was he talking about Zuko personally or the Fire Nation as a whole? As he opened his mouth to question this, Ty Lee spoke.

"He didn't come to take anyone, Sokka!" she said worriedly, looking between the two males, "I wouldn't have brought him here if that was the case! He had a question about your sister, he wanted to know where she was!"

Sokka laughed. It wasn't a happy sound. "He doesn't know? Shouldn't the prince know where people like her are kept?" His voice held a taunting note to it. _What does he mean by 'people like her' _Zuko wondered. As he pondered this, Sokka continued. "What, is the royal family too busy being tyrants to keep track of where their prisoners go?" he asked mockingly, "Or whatever she is. Slave?" His eyes darkened even more in fury, "Concubine?"

Zuko looked at him confused for a few minutes. _What does he **mean **people like her? Why should I know where she is...? _Understanding began to dawn on him. He looked up at Sokka.

"What do you mean? Are you saying she's..." Zuko trailed off, but Sokka finished for him, confirming what he had realized:

"In the Fire Nation."

Eventually Sokka began to relax as Ty Lee explained Zuko's situation. He was still suspicious, but didn't seem to be as on edge as before. Zuko didn't pay much attention to Ty Lee's monologue of his second banishment, instead Pondering over the new information he had recieved. He knew where she was only one problem now:

How did_he _get there?

**I'm sorry this took me so long. It took me forever to figure out how to get this to play out. Plus I get sick quite easily, so I've been under the weather the last month or two. I kept changing Sokka's reaction, so I hope you are content with this! I'll try to update again soon. Thank you for putting up with me! Please review this chapter, it took me so long to decide on a reaction so please tell me how it was!**


	5. Planning

**Okay so I'm uploading again! I'm really happy with the welcome reception that this story has been getting :) Thank you all for the reviews! I wish I had something more interesting to add, but I don't at the moment :p**

Zuko was to stay at Toph and Sokka's that night. It had surprisingly Sokka who proposed the arrangement, but Zuko suspected it was for some ulterior motive. It seemed Ty Lee had the same assumption, as she stayed until Toph not so nicely told her to get out. The longer he was in their company, the more he appreciated Toph's blunt honesty. When he learned that she was from a noble family he was genuinly surprised. He had been drilled in manners and traditions. Even the common families taught girls manners, such as to not spit. He found her behavior strange, but refreshing.

Eventually Toph stated that Zuko was boring her and she got up to go to the room that must have been where she Sokka slept. Sokka on the other hand stayed right there. He and Zuko stared at each other for a long time. It wasn't awkward, just tense and it caused Zuko slight discomfort. Was Sokka going to let him go after Katara? Maybe he was waiting until the two were alone to kill Zuko. Thoughts kept wizzing around in the fire prince's head as they stared at each other.

"Why do you care?" Sokka finally asked, breaking the tense silence. Zuko started at the sudden question and pondered it for a few moments before looking at Sokka.

"I have no idea," he answered the warrior honestly, "At first it was just a whim, but now that I know where she is, I owe it to her."

"What do you mean you owe her?" Sokka asked, genuinely curious. Katara had always hated Zuko, why would he possibly owe her? So he listened as his once enemy explained the events in the cave; her offer to heal him, his betrayal, even the events afterward, and as these were laid out for him, Sokka started to soften a bit. Not to say he was no longer cautious, but he was less wary of the prince than before.

They both sat in silence again, each pondering over different conflicts. Once more Sokka was the one to break the hushed atmosphere.

"How are you planning to find her if you're banished?" Questioned Sokka. Zuko had been pondering over the same thing throughout the evening. Considering how paranoid Azula had become, guards were most likely leaving no blind spots. As the two discussed this, they didn't notice Toph leaning against the wall smirking, nor did any of them spot the familiar face framed by light brown hair that had been watching from outside the window.

The two men were up late into the night trying to concoct a plan of action for Zuko to rescue Katara. When they finally decided on a plan the sky was the blackest black. Zuko laid on the couch after Sokka had walked to Toph's and his room. When Zuko slept that night, for the first night in over a year, he prayed to wake up.

In all of his dreams that night, he saw his Little Healer and himself. It was more memories than an actual dream. The only thing that made him realize it was a dream was that whenever he saw her, she had a scar on her peaceful face, one that perfectly mirrored his own.

**Sorry for how short this one was. I've been so behind on updates that this was kind of a catch up chapter. The next one will be usual length. I think I've got the plot of this one planned out, but even I don't know what's going to happen next, and I'm the one writing XD Have fun at school tomorrow ;) -Taiga**


	6. Pancakes

Zuko woke in the morning with a jolt that sent him to his feet. He crouched into a defensive position, awaiting attack. He noted with a grimace that his form was rusty as he hadn't been practicing. He swiveled around in a circle looking for someone when he was struck with a slap to the back of his head. He whipped around quickly and met with two unimpressed milky green eyes.

"Morning, sponger," she grumbled at him. He straightened up and mumbled a response that was part greeting and part apology. She just nodded without interest at him. "What do you want?" Toph questioned petulantly, a scowl on her delicate face. She spit into a small bowl across the room. He looked at her in disgust and awe until he registered her question.

"For breakfast?" He asked hesitantly.

"No Zuko, for your birthday," she deadpanned back at him as she started to gather supplies. He blinked a few times before answering.

"Hot cakes?" He inquired not sure if they were in possession of ingredients. He often requested this as his breakfast at the palace, but the cooks were often lacking the utensils and ingredients for them. She grinned at him slightly, chuckling a tad.

"Well, you're in luck Sparky, you just became Boomerang Boy's new best friend," He looked at her, again confused, as she sighed and stomped hard on the rock floor. It was almost immediately followed by a scream and a crash.

"Why!?" came Sokka's reply. Toph simply laughed and even Zuko couldn't help but to crack a smile. "You're supposed to still be in here cuddling me and loving me!" Toph snickered as her husband stalked out of their room.

"Well Sparky here looks ravenous and I'm making pancakes!" She replied, raising an eyebrow, "If you'd rather sleep peacefully while he annihilates them, be my guest," Sokka went quickly to his seat at the table and gave Zuko the thumbs up.

Zuko nodded, amused, at the two. Sokka continued to pester Toph as she cooked and they argued throughout the entire process with grins on their faces and kisses in between. After a few minutes he had to look away, embarrassed.

When Toph served their breakfast, Zuko sat and ate quietly. The two continued to banter with each other while he thought. He still needed a way back into the fire nation. His scar was noticeable, and anyone who saw it would immediately know who he was. The first thing he needed to do was find some way to hide his identifier. His first thought was makeup, but it was rain season and he couldn't risk it. A mask would be even more noticeable, and an ambush was a suicide mission. He was drawing a blank. The only thing that might work was a healer, ironically.

He noticed that his hosts had also gone off into thought, both looking at him curiously. He shrank back a tad under the scrutiny. Then in some frightening, pyschic sync, they voiced his thought.

"Your scar is a dead giveaway," The two said in unison. Almost immediately after though Sokka's face turned almost as pale as Zuko's, which he was pretty sure should have been impossible. He caught a glance of Toph smirking before she said the word.

"Jinx," she said happily, and then she stomped hard on the rock floor, sending her husband's seat skyrocketing and driving him through the roof before stopping abruptly and sending him flying into a bush. He groaned and Toph laughed hysterically, tears brimming in her eyes.

"Dammit woman! You're supposed to punch on a jinx, not catapult me through a roof!" He yelled, slightly vexed, but more so irritated. It struck Zuko that he was probably used to this kind of treatment. The thought both comforted him and scared him shitless. Toph, still chuckling, walked up to her husband and reached out as if to help him up.

"I'm sorry, I forgot you were supposed to punch," she said, semming contrite. As he reached for her hand though, she pulled back and drilled him right in the shoulder. Sokka collapsed, eyes rolled to the back of his head and Zuko would have thought the blind pyscho had killed him if it weren't for the mumbled threats coming from Sokka's mouth. They abruptly ended when Toph cracked her knuckles and asked sweetly, "Was that better?" Sokka made a noise that we just assumed was affirmative.

She turned towards me and I straightened immediately, irrational as it was. She was thin and short, a peasant girl if the spitting bowls could indicate anything, and blind. None the less, he couldn't stop the quavering of his nerves when she turned her attention to him.

"Ready for breakfast?" she asked brightly, smirking all the while. Zuko quickly nodded in agreement, then at her raised eyebrow, realized the mistake and responded audibly. She gave him a seemingly self-satisfied grin before walking back into the home. As she walked though he noticed that she carried herself with a slight limp on her left side. His gaze immediately travelled to her arm, but he knew that an arm wouldn't cause a limp. His eyes travelled down her and landed on her leg. While before she had worn men's breeches, which of course were much to long, they were replaced this morning with a pair of knee-length leggings. He had been internally questioning her choice of apparel as he was used to girls wanting to be feminine and pretty. Living in a world of pink daisies with an abundance of lavish dresses, yet this girl, obviously pretty as a doll and a slim build, would wear such unflattering apparel. He no longer had to question the bender's fashion sense.

Her arm looked like a scrape compared to her leg. The flesh was cratered, like it had been burning to the point of a boil and was suddenly frozen, dimpled, puckered and bumpy. The mottled flesh was the color of a fire nation sunset and the was at it's lightest. At it's darkest the idea that it was once skin was almost inconceivable. It was blackened, crispy looking in some places. The black appeared to be the first few layers of skin that had been roasted to their current state. It curled up at the edges, outlineing what appeared to be leg muscle. As she was upright, he assumed that there was just enough skin regrown to hold her leg together. The sight of it brought bile to rise in his throat, and he found himself relieved that he had yet to eat. He heard Sokka strat to rise from behind, as did Toph. He watched her as she turned to face the two men, and Zuko was regretfully thankful that she couldn't see and the Sokka was behind him. His expression was indescribable and he thought he felt tears welling in his good eye. She looked towards him, and her normally cloudy, but focused eyes seemed to look past him, into something too far off for anyone else to see. The held a gleam of despair in them as she turned up a corner of her mouth in a rueful, regretful smile. The agony her look gave him was near unbearable and he stood, glued to his spot. Never before had he felt this kind of emotion, at least to the extent he did now. She slowly spoke, her eyes never moving.

"Would you like to hear it? What they did?" she spoke softly, her voice quavering only slightly. It was shocking to hear it come from such a normally brash person. Before he could respond though she turned and walked inside.

He followed, and heard Sokka's footsteps echoing behind him, urging him on.


End file.
